Type Out IPA Symbols with TypeIt

For those of us in the voice teaching and vocal coaching business, knowing the International Phonetic Alphabet is an essential part of understanding, talking about, and imparting the correct sounds of any language. But when we're at the computer, we often need a much wider set of symbols beyond the standard Mac and Windows shortcuts. Enter TypeIt, a handy site that allows you to quickly type out phonetic symbols in IPA! This is a godsend for those of us who need to type out IPA for class work, research, vocal pedagogy, or examining. Just type out the correct sequence of symbols that you need, cut and paste, and you're in business. On my voice exam routes last month in Alberta, PEI, and Nova Scotia, I always had a browser tab with TypeIt open, and this allowed me to quickly add the correct IPA symbols to my exam commentary for the benefit of students and teachers.

The default TypeIt page goes to the IPA English set. However, in the voice biz we're going to need English, French, Italian, and German at the very least. Therefore, I recommend that you bookmark the full IPA symbol set, with symbols across every language and easily accessible keyboard shortcuts (hover over a symbol to see it).

So the next time you're trying to win an online flame war about the correct German pronunciation of "nicht", you can easily enter either [nɪçt] or [niʃt] and prove your case.*

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* The former is correct, in spite of several famous singers utilizing the latter (probably regional) pronunciation, particularly Wunderlich. A more reasonable explanation lies in the fact that idiomatic speakers aren't linguists, and that the pure vowels of the IPA don't always correspond to the exact vowels spoken by people of a specific region. For example, three North American pronouncing "back" will insist that they're saying the purest vowel, even though a Rochesterian will pronounce it [bek], a Hamiltonian the much darker [bɑk], and most other North Americans [bæk] (Southerners will even diphthongize or even triphthongize the vowel). Such are the vagaries of phonetic linguistics in the field of lyric diction.

Christopher Goldsack's Mélodie Treasury

Art song and language resources are a useful addition to anyone's coaching arsenal, and I was glad to make the acquaintance of Christopher Goldsack's Mélodie Treasury. It would be well worth your time to spend a few hours looking through these resources, including a sizeable index of art song translations, a concise and well worded guide to singing in French, and Christopher's own publications for sale.

On French as a legato language:

One of the big differences between French and English – and German and Italian for that matter – is how stresses are handled in French. In English the rhythm of the language takes you from one stressed syllable to the next, and this rhythm is called a metre. In French stresses are generally created by lengthening a syllable without extra weight. This results in a far greater fluidity in the spoken language. There is an imperative when singing in French above all other languages, which is to create a legato line.

Christopher's quick rundown on the vowels of French:

Singers: Should You Be Working with a Vocal Coach or Collaborative Pianist?

Noted collaborative pianist, teacher, and fellow Eastman grad Anne Breeden has just written a fabulous article on Operagasm looking at the choices available to singers shopping for pianists entitled "You're Going to Breathe There???" and Other Musings from the Singer-Pianist Collaboration Front. At stake is the choice regarding what type of pianist a singer should choose to work with: vocal coach or collaborative pianist? About these distinctions:

“You should go to a coach to get info that you don’t already have,” says Emily Sinclair, Soprano. Coaching usually entails a teacher-student type of relationship, with the pianist focusing on diction and stylistic issues. The coach should send you away with new tidbits of information.

With a collaborative pianist, things are trickier, because the singer and pianist make decisions as a team. Ms. Sinclair gives the example of intimating to an excellent coach she had worked with for years: “Sometimes I miss working through musical issues with a pianist who is a peer, not a coach.” “I know exactly what you mean,” said the coach. “It is a really different experience to work through voicings, phrasings and gestures with a collaborative pianist. It’s a very equal experience,” she says.

You might think that most pianists are able to wear their vocal coach and collaborative pianist hats at the same time, but I've noticed that there is a subtle distinction with the way that both types of pianist handle ensemble and tempo situations with individual singers.

Vocal coaches who have done their time as repetiteurs in opera companies are often apt to play a lot like orchestras in that they tend to push a singer through a phrase much like a conductor would. In other words, if the singer is singing with slightly less direction than they should be, many coach/repetiteurs will simply barrel forward in tempo through the phrase.

On the other hand, a collaborative pianist with more recital experience will work at developing a mutual vocabulary of collaboration, delving into the nature of the phrase and working at how pianist and singer can both generate the phrase through a delicate dance of leading vs. following.

The above descriptions are a bit of a generalization, but I notice these differences, both in the vocabulary which pianists use and their instincts while playing.

So which type of pianist should a singer be using?

A lot of it depends on both the type of specific preparation that a singer needs (role, audition, or recital?) and the type of pianist that fits in with their musical needs and instincts, and whether they are able to bridge the gap between the many facets of what a classical singer needs to prepare these days. Above all, pianists need a sense of empathy. From Anne's article (emphasis is mine):

Ms. Maultsby loves a pianist who knows not just the diction, rhythm and pitches, but the background, emotion and story behind what the characters are feeling, and that the pianist is on his/her own emotional journey. “The most rewarding work relationships come when I feel comfortable with my pianist as a person, and when that coach genuinely likes my voice and says so,” she explains. Dr. Harris adds that both pianist and singer need to complement the music that the other produces, though always making sure that it is an honest compliment. “Let them know what their music meant to you.”

Singers want really good chops, musical guts, a trust that you’re on our side, explains Dr. Patricia Thompson, mezzo-soprano. “We want to know that you have a vested interest in making the music sound great. It’s not fun to play with a pianist who’s jaded and playing for a paycheck. A singer wants a good friend and confidant and someone they can trust at the piano.”

And how valuable it is for singers to work with pianists who are able to understand the differences between coach/repetiteur and recital pianist in order to engage fully with both the needs of the singer and the needs of the repertoire.

The 2011 WTO Aria Frequency List

Every year, Kim Witman posts a list of the most frequently heard arias from the Wolf Trap Opera audition tour. While the list is not a barometer of the most strategic arias to offer in auditions (which will differ for every single singer), it has proven invaluable for pianists in being able to gauge which arias one should learn in order to develop a complete operatic repertoire. The 2011 aria frequency list boasts its own page on the WTO site, with soprano and mezzo soprano results collated so far, and tenor, bass-baritone/bass, and countertenor lists to follow shortly. Stay tuned for updates when the rest of the aria inventory comes online...

Update 11/17 10:19pm: Kim Witman sends word that aria frequency lists for all of the voice types are now online in pdf format. This should be standard reference material for every collaborative piano studio, so download and print as soon as possible!

Coaching Recitative: Subliminal Recit Technique

This useful method of both learning and coaching recitative was written by New York-based vocal coach and conductor Jennifer Peterson., who previously wrote an article here on 9 Categories of Excuses for Missed Rehearsals and Coachings. You also can also connect with Jennifer on Twitter.

Subliminal Recit Technique

It works.

It can apply to any recitative up through Donizetti, with a couple of exceptions, which I will include as we go.

Post-Donizetti (or 1830 is a good cutoff date), keep in mind that notation became more specific. Especially for anything French and for Verdi. You can still apply the technique, but the composer helps you through a good part the process.

The coach's job is quite involved, and the coach must be as familiar with the language as the singer.

It is assumed that the singer has already made their translation, and that the coach has a handle on this as well.

Step 1 - Remove Unnecessary Pauses
Both singer and coach: eliminate all rests in the vocal line when there is no punctuation in the text. This does not apply to French recitative. And some conductors may absolutely disagree with this basic principle. Nonetheless, the technique will work; your stage director will be happy; the singer can always put the rests (i.e. dramatic pauses) back in once they've got it in their mouth and voice. Connect the final pitch before a rest to the pitch after the rest. Be careful to never lengthen the note before the printed rest. If it's lengthened, it will sound like an accent. Coach: keep this in mind throughout the entire coaching process. Don't let the singer lengthen those final syllables, no matter how pretty it sounds!

The reason for killing rests: barlines were a convention that were somewhat arbitrarily imposed as notation developed. If you look at 15th-16th-17th century facsimiles of manuscripts, you will see that barlines crept in gradually. Once we hit 1600, 'common time' (aka 4/4) simply indicated 'Recitativo' -- thus there were four beats in the bar, but obviously not every line of poetry would fit into this pattern. The composer's job was to place the strong syllables on the strong beats, i.e. beat 1 as the most important syllable, then beat 3 the next most important one, then the other beats, and anything off the beat was unaccented. In order to line up the text with this rule, they added rests simply to fill in the rest of the spaces.

If you apply this rule to Monteverdi and other early Italian recitative, you will surely find plenty of musicians who will argue with you. Still, I recommend trying it. If your lute and gamba players can keep up, you are going to connect to the drama much more directly.

OK, the superfluous rests are gone. For the next several steps, it is recommended that the singer no longer look at the pitches. At all. They can look at the words, and they can glance at where the barlines fall, because the barlines tell us where the stress is. You will also notice that the harmonies land most often on the barlines, i.e. with the strong syllables. So yeah, the singer is also welcome to look at where the harmonies fall, especially if they are not fluent in the language. We're about to move to another part of the singer's brain now, so let's go....

Step 2 - Just Talk
Speaking only. Singer: read the words. Coach: read along silently, make corrections as they go. Be sure all consonants are pronounced correctly, all vowels are pure and inflected, and make sure the singer is stressing the correct syllable. You can tell because the strong syllables always fall on the strong beat. There are maybe two exceptions in all of opera, so trust the composer. The coach is looking at the singer's notated pitches, but the singer is not, at this point. NB -- If the recit is French, encourage legato, and no, in French the accents often don't fall on the beat. Keep things more even and smooth, and every word is stressed at the end of the word unless it's a mute syllable. La la la la LA.

Step 3 - Talk & Shape
Still speaking. Don't sing. Singer: read the words. Coach: read along silently and sneak in harmonies on the keyboard. (Yes, this is the first music making to happen up to this point.) Keep making corrections to the singer's pronunciation as needed. It's totally fine to repeat Step 3 until it feels like something is happening. The singer should feel like they are reciting dialogue, slightly heightened, and the harmonies will start to help them shape the direction of the phrases. Phrases of poetry, that is. Not musical phrases, because we're not making music yet. Yeah, it's fun to repeat this step, with the coach maybe giving a little extra *direction* as you feel it.

I often add a step early on for singers who don't have a great deal of experience singing in a foreign language:

Step 3a - Paraphrase & Shape
If you're interested in befriending the stage director, repeat Step 3 with the singer speaking their lines in English (or Russian or Japanese or Hebrew or whatever their first language is). A paraphrased translation works best. The coach should land the harmonies where they make sense in relation to the original. Note: With singers who have a strong acting background, it may be more effective to do Step 3a before Step 3.

Step 4 - Talk & Shadow
Still speaking. Don't sing! Singer: read the words. They're getting pretty good at it by now, right? Coach: this is where some serious skill is required, and you will get better at this the more you do it. Play the harmonies in the left hand, and lightly follow along the singer's spoken syllables with their notated pitches in your right hand. It's totally fine to skip notes in order to keep up to them. It's important that the singer still is not looking at the pitches, but using the exact same mental process they did in Steps 2 & 3, i.e. right brain. What the coach is doing is helping the singer (subliminally) shape the inflection of the text the way the composer set it. Your right hand is shadowing their line lightly, but the singer is guiding the rhythm in their vocal reading.

Step 5 - Talk & Cement
Still speaking. Don't sing. Singer: read the words. Coach: Repeat Step 4 but play their line a little more prominently, still keeping in their natural spoken rhythm. This time, do repeat notes if the composer repeated them. At this point you are cramming the notes into their brain (again, subliminally), but not into their voice. The singer can't help but look at the pitches, but don't let them sing, and make sure they don't pause for those rests where there are no punctuation. Keep giving them diction notes, like double consonants, and pure vowels. Their habits are now formed, so don't let anything go. You can repeat this step if you want, but if you made it through smoothly, it may just be time to let the singer sing.

Step 6 - "Are You Ready to Sing?"
Okay, the singer gets to sing now. But the singer still shouldn't need to look at the printed pitches. The coach won't have to tell them this, but if they totally change the way they're reading the words and slow way down and start hunting for pitches with their voice, stop them, and say, "don't look at the pitches, just read the same way you've been reading up to this point. Look at the words, not the pitches...." This is the important advantage of this subliminal technique. At no point in time does the singer have to jerk their voice around in an unnatural way trying to get all those random notes into their voice. The pitches will go in naturally if you've repeated the previous steps enough. If the singer isn't getting it, go back to Step 5 and be more emphatic with the 'shadowing.'

Coach: you're doing basically what you did in Step 5, i.e. playing the harmony in the left hand, and playing the singer's pitches in your right hand. So yeah, spoon-feeding, plunking pitches, training wheels, whatever you'd like to call it. For most singers, it's the best way to get music into their body. This is not a time for tough-love.Feed them the pitches. It's very fun to use all these repetitions to really help the singer shape the drama.

Note: 'Shadowing' and 'spoon-feeding' can be done an octave higher for male voices if it seems to work better. Try it both in his octave and an octave higher, and switch it up. See what feels good and flows into his brain the easiest. Every singer is different. For Step 6, I usually use their octave.

Play their line nice and musically so they can keep their inflections from the previous steps. Don't play wrong notes. If you do, stop, go back and do it again.

Repeat this if you think they're not secure. If they're totally going to town, then just finish up with...

Step 7 - Do It
Let 'em go. Singer: sing your recitative. Coach: Play continuo.

The singer probably has the recit memorized by now. Stage it; send them to their costume fitting.

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It looks really complicated, but in my experience, it has proven to the most efficient way to get recits rolling. Now that the singer knows it, they'll never have to go back to fix things. Drilling can be done (and is recommended) at high speed up through closing night. I've fit entire Handel, Cimarosa, Mozart, and Rossini operas, the entire cast, into a 15 or 20-minute recit run call. Stick it before their makeup call if the administration of the opera company will cooperate. Some singers won't be into it, and some will love it. Either way, just do it. The audience will stay with the story, which kind of is their reason for going to the theater, no?

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Big can of worms: appoggiaturas

It's a separate topic, but will come up. I won't open the can all the way. Just two points:

1. Coach: with the subliminal technique, you inherit the honor of manipulating the singer into doing whichever appoggiaturas you see fit. I'll stop there.

2. Many singers understand what an appoggiatura is, but have no clue as to why these composers didn't just write the notes they wanted sung. I won't bore you with my spiel, but if you can give them some kind of explanation which will probably involve some opera history and a brief explanation of figured bass, they will perform them with more meaning, rather than just doing something by rote because somebody told them to or because they heard it on a recording.

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And a quick P.S. returning to the topic of rests in different styles of recit for a sec -- in accompagnato recitatives (while the orchestra is playing) it's usually best to observe the rests, but not always!

Have fun.

Jennifer Peterson
www.operajen.com

9 Categories of Excuses for Missed Rehearsals and Coachings

This post on the complexities of lesson, rehearsal, and coaching cancellation situations was written by New York-based vocal coach and conductor Jennifer Peterson. You also can also connect with Jennifer on Twitter.

When a singer doesn't show up, assign it a number. It makes it easier to roll with the punches.

Excuses

1. Health

a) illness
b) injury
c) allergies
d) acid reflux
e) swollen cords
f) fatigue
g) sunburn
h) animal/insect bite(s) or other dermatological issues
j) hangover
k) feminine issues
l) doctor appointment
m) hospitalized

2. Public Transportation

a) subway
b) taxi
c) airplane
d) train/bus/streetcar

3. Automobile

a) wouldn't start
b) broke down
c) flat tire
d) ran out of gas
e) locked keys in car
f) couldn't find parking
g) moving violation
h) collision

4. Weather
a) rain
b) snow
c) ice
d) excessive heat
e) fair weather/went to beach/park, etc.

5. Miscommunication
a) wrong place
b) wrong time
c) wrong day
d) wrong week/month/year
e) phone or other technological malfunction
f) double-hire/double-booking
g) oblivion
h) "didn't you get my message?"
j) miscellaneous other

6. Relative Emergency
a) family
b) friend
c) pet
d) neighbor/work colleague

7. Running Late
a) stuck in traffic
b) work ran over
c) gig ran over
d) lost
e) parking
f) at the gym
g) dressing or grooming, hair, or make-up
h) shopping/eating

8. Act of God
a) natural disaster
b) state of emergency
c) power outage

9. General Delinquency
a) "I forgot"
b) "I overslept"
c) "I was eating"
d) "I got confused"
e) "I don't care"
f) personal/relationship issues
g) peer pressure/mass hysteria

CF: I counted 60 excuses in all. If you have any to add, leave them in the comments.

Some Thoughts on How Singers Choose a Coach/Pianist

Last week, I asked the question How do you choose a coach/pianist? to the singing community. My goal was to collect some insight from classical singers as to what they need from a vocal coach and how they went about choosing one. I also wondered how singers thought about the coach/singer relationship, and how it differs from the voice teacher/singer relationship. This issue figured prominently in the comments from the post...

Jermaine Jackson, creator of the Vocal Performance Majors Anonymous: A College/Conservatory Connection Facebook group, states:

I believe that a coach is an advanced pianist who has studied language and music extensively, so therefore, they give feedback to a singer on tempi, phrasing, style, and diction. A coach IS NOT a voice teacher. Let me repeat... A COACH IS NOT A VOICE TEACHER! I have had SEVERAL coaches who try to tell singers how to actually sing, when they aren't singers themselves. Pianists, THIS IS NOT YOUR JOB! Don't tell a singer how to breathe, how to stand, how to phonate, or how to do anything that involves working the vocal mechanism.

If you have worked with several singers and consider yourselves to be an advanced coach, you probably have a good ear for bad technique or a flaw in the tone. Point out what you are hearing to the singer and THEN ask the singer to address this problem with his/her teacher. Do not try to correct the problem yourself. (I don't care how many voice lessons you have sat in on and played. Just because you hear a teacher saying something doesn't mean you understand it if you aren't a singer!) In going back to the original question, I try to AVOID these coaches AT ALL COST!!!

Gabriel talks about the coach's diagnostic role in vocal technique:

About coaches, I suppose they're people who understand these things and even more, and they can check the diction (as word phrasing) but I disagree about phonetics, I mean: the coach might point "that word isn't that good, try to make it better", but never tell you how to phonate it, that's your voice teacher's work.

In other words, the coach discovers and diagnoses potential problems and issues, which the singer then brings back to the voice teacher in order to solve. I agree completely.

One critical element in the development of young singers is that they need one and only one authority on how to develop the vocal mechanism. Even if coach and voice teacher are completely on the same track regarding how to build a voice, the mere act of hearing the same information from two different sources, and in two different sets of words, can potentially cause irreparable harm to a singer's developing voice. Far better for the vocal teacher to assume full responsibility for building the mechanics of the voice and have the coach work on other issues, of which there are plenty (ensemble, style, diction, poetics, etc.).

Also prominent in the responses were the needs of singers that have to be met through specific skill sets. Queen's University faculty member and fellow Eastman grad Elizabeth McDonald says:

First and foremost I have to actually LIKE the coach. After my voice teacher, this is the most personal relationship for me as a singer. Who are you and what is your mission as a musician?

Second, if you can't sight read or know the rep well enough to play it cold, stay home. This may seem harsh but singers get anywhere from 2-3 hours of good "full" singing in a day so it has to be productive and can't be wasted on waiting for a pianist to learn notes.

Third, I want to know what you HEAR. Can you sense the rate of vibrancy and when i'm going to breath? Do you make it easy for me to sing a long phrase? a fast phrase? Can you anticipate?

Fourth, can you articulate your ideas? I'm ok if you don't know everything. But can you articulate what you do know and hear?

From an anonymous commenter:

Having said that, obviously an advanced level of musicianship, knowledge of language, an ability to concisely and accurately tell me what you hear (not try to diagnose just highlight things for me to address with my teacher), knowledge of style, ability to sight read (or willingness to say you can't) etc are the basics.

Singers also need someone to put them on the right path of artistic development, not just from a place of practicalities, but able to put a singer in touch with their own artistic muse.

The anonymous commenter:

...first off is chemistry. The relationship between a coach or a collaborative pianist and a singer is as, no more, intimate on many levels than a marriage. This is a person who I’m going to be naked as an artist in front of so I need to feel safe. Ideally during our time together I’ll have the freedom to make ugly and perhaps unmusical sounds as I explore the boundaries of what I/we can do. I need to trust that when we leave the studio either you’ll be there to catch me or I’ll have the confidence to sing in the moment.

This approach ties in with what a lot of advanced singers need, singers who are poked and prodded at auditions, treated as product, told by "authorities" to become this or that if they ever intend to work, but still need to have the comfort to be vulnerable in the process of working up new and existing repertoire, and most importantly need to recover their own identity as artists in the coaching process. Jermaine sums it up admirably:

Coaches, also be open to collaboration. Don't treat singers like they are worthless human beings. Not all singers are stereotypically "slow" at music, especially in 2008. Don't act like you are the "supreme authority" on everything musical just because you are sitting at the piano.

Most importantly for all future pianists/coaches, remember to be innovative. I can't stand working with a pianist who won't budge on a tempo because that is how they've played it for 35 years, or they first played this aria slower or faster. Have new ideas and always be willing to compromise.

A big thanks to Jermaine, Elizabeth, Gabriel, and Anon. for their eloquent and frank advice.

Any further thoughts from singers or pianists? Please leave a comment below and let's continue the discussion.

Update 8/22: Recommended reading: a new discussion thread on Coaching vs. Playing Dumb (Facebook ID req.) has appeared on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Accompanists Facebook group that looks at the difficult choices facing many about whether or not it is wise to offer advice in the rehearsal room.

National Singer Training Forum This October in NYC

Anne Choe, Artistic Services Manager of OPERA America, sends the following open letter about the upcoming National Singer Training Program to be held October 13, 2007 in New York City.

Dear Singer Training Professionals,

As you know, opera is a highly competitive field. Less than 5% of the singers who apply to the Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera, and San Francisco Opera young artist programs are accepted. While talent and solid vocal technique are foremost requirements, there is an array of other factors that contribute to the success of an opera singer. As experts in the field of vocal pedagogy and singing techniques you are a young singer's best resource for career advice, but how do you find the information to relay about their life beyond the voice studio?

OPERA America recently formed the National Singer Training Forum, an action oriented think-tank which is comprised of stakeholders in the field of opera (including voice teachers, young artist program managers, opera company administrators, and artist managers, among others) who are dedicated to the identification and development of aspiring singers. The Forum meets twice each year for extended facilitated discussion organized around specific topics. The objective is to strengthen mutual understanding, improve practices across the field, and encourage collaboration among the network of professionals who share a devotion to the art form.

We invite you to audit the discussion on October 13, 2007 in New York, NY. There is a $35.00 registration fee to audit the discussion. The registration fee includes a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and a special 6-month trial subscription to Opera Source - OPERA America's comprehensive, online career resource for administrators, singers, technical/production professionals, teachers, and all creative and performing opera artists.

Please contact me via e-mail at AChoe [at] operaamerica dot org or call 212-796-8620 ext. 202 to register. Space is limited, so please register by September 14, 2007.

F. Paul Driscoll wrote about the National Singer Training Forum in a recent issue of Opera News. "A stimulating dialogue on the critical issues surrounding singer training has been inaugurated by Opera America, the national service organization for opera. In response to concerns voiced by academic institutions and by opera companies - and as part of its commendable ongoing mission to foster a sense of community within a highly competitive field - Opera America created the National Singer Training Forum. At Forum meetings in spring and autumn 2006, participants discussed ways in which stakeholder organizations in the opera field - teachers, companies, schools, artist managements - could work together to resolve issues, create change and advance shared goals. The Forum has recommended several action plans, including creating professional development programs to enrich voice teachers' understanding of the challenges facing today's emerging artists. Last month, Des Moines Metro Opera and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) offered a weekend workshop for voice teachers that provided its participants with insights about the demands of the Des Moines young-artist program and other intensive singer-training regimens. The next meeting of the National Singer Training Forum will take place in autumn 2007 in New York. In collaboration with NATS, voice teachers and singers will be invited to audit sections of the NSTF meeting and ask questions about terminology, concepts and partnerships. The discussion is sure to be lively, passionate and partisan - as any discussion about opera should be. "

I look forward to seeing you this fall.

Dicey Topics for Singers

Elizabeth Prescott's website offers some fascinating articles about singing, on topics that are generally difficult to answer. Here are some of them:

What do I do with my hands?
Voice Teacher vs. Vocal Coach
How young is too young to study?
How long does it take?
What to take and not take when ill

But the most useful article I found was What they didn't tell you about your singing audition..., difficult advice, and useful for both musical theater and opera singers, who must brave much more rejection than acceptance before getting hired. Also take a look at breakdowns of several musicals for role and skill info.

Vocal Coach vs. Voice Teacher

I recently discovered an article by David L. Jones entitled Taking a Professional Coaching and Protecting Your Voice, one of the many resources available on www.voiceteacher.com.

David's article takes a generally harsh at coaches and what they offer, and I think he is completely on the mark when he talks about numerous coaches that cross the line between vocal coach and wannabe voice teacher.

On the danger of the coach as teacher, David states:

The majority of coaches know little about vocal production. However, there are those who think because they have worked with lots of singers that they have the ability to offer technical advice. RUN from this red light! This is the ego interfering with the singer's process. Usually if a singer listens to the technical advice of a coach, that singer will undoubtedly end up in vocal trouble. Some coaches have played for many master classes and for many private studios. This coach may have heard lots of vocal concepts, however most of the time the knowledge-link of 'how to apply' the concept has NOT been achieved.

I agree. Singers have so many things to learn--drama, repertoire, language, stage deportment, poetry, not to mention the responsibility of growing and developing the voice that they are born with. The primary mentor for a young developing should be a voice teacher, period. A teacher's responsibility is to build the physical mechanism of the voice and integrate it with actions such as breathing and articulation. If a young singer works with a coach that respects these boundaries and chooses to work on issues such as ensemble, diction, style, and the like, great progress is generally made. However, the danger of working with both voice teacher and coach is that if the technical instruction a singer receives from the coach happens to be the slightest bit different (even identical instruction worded differently) confusion may result in a singer, with subsequent vocal damage even possible.

Which is why as a vocal coach I have always steered away from giving technical advice to singers. When I notice that something is awry, it is much better to diagnose the problem and send them back to their primary teacher to solve the problem much more efficiently than I ever could. In the case of professional singers (especially with master's degrees and above), I diagnose the problem and recommend they learn how to fix it themselves, which all career musicians eventually need to do anyway.

Nevertheless, there are a large number of coaches who set themselves up as technical authorities. David Jones is entirely correct in stating that it's difficult for singers to deal with coaches that overstep their bounds, especially when the coach has a great deal of power. His list of deflection (survival!) tactics for singers to use in dealing with ill-advised technical advice is useful. Differences of opinion in this regard are numerous between coaches, and I've taken a lot of flak over the years on my firm position about the separation of teacher and coach over vocal technique.

So what does enable a vocal coach to wear the badge of authority as a voice teacher?

One well-known voice teacher from Eastman suggested this litmus test: if the coach has had at least some experience on the opera stage as a professional singer, they have business giving out technical advice. Otherwise no.

As always, feel free to leave your comments below.

Update 2:35pm

I just came across this--a few days ago, Campbell Vertesi asked:

...a coach who tells the singer to come "off the voice" for a particular passage - whch the singer knows, will render the line inaudible beyond the third row, and toneless up till that point. Or a conductor who insists on real vowels through and above the vocal passaggi - which can damage a voice. Do you smile and nod in rehearsal, making a note to sing it properly onstage? Do you bring it up in discussion with the coach/conductor? Even if the person is a much more experienced musician?

Update 7/27/07

Here's another discussion of the topic from Elizabeth Prescott's website:

The voice teacher generally is, or has been, a singer themselves. At a lesson, they will typically lead a student through a series of vocal exercises, and possibly through songs, with a focus on vocal technique rather than interpretation of material.

A coach may also be a singer, but most coaches have a stronger accompanist background than voice teachers. Most of my voice teachers over the years were pretty rotten pianists, and it was fine. When I wanted an accompanist, I went to an accompanist. So many wonderful voice teachers have limited skills as pianists and performers. And many coaches steer clear of the controversial arena of vocal technique. A coach's focus is on repertoire, interpretation, performance preparation, and sometimes, but not always, acting. Most professional conductors and musical directors also coach privately, and they offer a unique perspective.

Assorted Links for Tuesday

From ChoralNet, a number of people have contributed to a list of Qualities Expected in a Choral Accompanist.

In the February 2002 Creative Keyboard, Per Danielsson talks about Accompanying a Singer from the jazz pianist's perspective.

Vocal coaches don't just work in the classical field, they are also active in genres such as pop and country, with plenty of advice on how to succeed in American Idol and other reality TV competitions.

Don't like pop music? Read about Melissa Cross and her experience coaching death metal singers.

Times of India reports on the experiences of tabla and harmonium accompanists in India which seem strikingly similar to those of us in the West.

What Do You Look For In An Accompanist?

An article by Michelle Bennett entitled What Do You Look For in an Accompanist? examines some of the criteria that go into a singer choosing a pianist. This is definitely required reading for all singers and pianists, and here are some thoughts on Michelle's list based on my own experience:

• Ditto on professionalism as a deciding factor. I recall talking to an exasperated singer asking for pianists I could refer her to. ________'s words: "I don't even care if they're great players, as long as they're reliable." Our art is often one where reliability and consistency are often valued more than mere genius.
• Being able to comment intelligently on matters of poetry and drama as it relates to the music is another ability that is highly valued.
• Being able to comment on suitability of repertoire is also something that singers need, although not every pianist is at the stage where they know voices enough to be able to do this. When talking rep with singers, often there are some tough choices to be made. When I was younger, I used to hold my tongue and play the diplomat when working with singers preparing unsuitable rep (18-year-old tenors singing Nessun dorma, 17-year-old sopranos singing The Trees on the Mountain). Now I just say what I feel and damn the torpedoes. If singers don't agree with my opinions they can choose to work with someone else.
• Singers also need to find a pianist/accompanist/vocal coach/recital partner whom they get along with. There are so many elements to perfect in the art of singing, much of it dealing with integrating work in one's own body, and how much more pleasant is the experience working with a pianist if they are a positive force.
  

The singers who can potentially get the most out of Michelle's list are developing singers at the pre-college level who stand to gain the most working with pianists and coaches that are genuinely knowledgeable about the singer's art, thus speeding the process of artistic development (and improving one's chances of landing a spot in a top-flight school).